Coffee With James
by inredrainboots
Summary: Instead of ending Bella's life, as she expected it to, a visit to the ballet studio changes it, perhaps forever - and I do mean forever. Slightly inspired by other Bella/James fics but not really. I think there need to be more out there. Probably a one-shot. Rated M for bad language, not lemons. If I continue this, I hope to make James sweet and Bella strong. Review please!


**A/N: Because I couldn't fall asleep and I can't seem to focus on writing one story or reading one book at a time anymore. So, I can't promise this'll go anywhere but I wanted to see what people thought of this. I don't think there are enough Bella/James romances out there, and I wanted to try and write a really sweet James and a Bella that sticks up for herself. Let me know how I did in a review, please, and PM me if you are interested in beta'ing this probably one-shot for me! Thanks!**

**I do not own Twilight, and the beginning of this chapter mirrors the book, though I didn't check to see how closely. I'm not Stephanie Meyer, and I never have and never will claim to be her. Etc. I hope you enjoy and do not sue me.**

I walk into the ballet studio and turn towards my mother's voice.

"Bella? Bella!" She says.

"Mom! Mom, I'm right here! You'll be okay. It'll be okay."

I rush towards her to be confronted with an empty room. A home video is playing on the little TV. I'm leaning too far over the railing of the bridge, and Renee is panicking. The image flickers off the screen.

"You tricked me." Almost giddy relief floods my veins.

"Yes. I'm sorry about that. I would never hurt your mother; I just did not know how else to get you to come to me; to get you away from the _Cullens_." He sneers their name. I turn to look him in the eyes.

"So. If you're going to kill me, will you get on with it now?"

"Bella. I'm not going to kill you. I'm not going to hurt you." Okay, now I'm confused.

"Then what do you want with me?" He steps forward, cautiously coming towards me. I try to hold my ground, but can't help my shaking.

"From the moment I saw you in the meadow, I knew that you, not Victoria as I had thought, are my true mate."

"What? No, no. That can't be true. Edward is my mate." My panic is rising. He looks pain-stricken. James reaches out and I flinch; he starts to slowly rub my arms up and down. For some reason, I find myself relaxing and leaning into his touch. He pulls me against him, stroking my hair. A low rumble starts in his chest. At first, I think he is growling at me, but it's so gentle. Then, I realize he is purring. _Purring_.

I am in my childhood ballet studio, being held by a purring vampire, who not fifteen minutes ago I thought was going to end my life.

I tense up and pull away from him. He lets me, but runs his hands down to hold mine.

"Bella?" No. This is wrong. I just want to go home.

"Will you let me go home?"

"No! I mean, please. Please, Bella, I need you in my life. You are my life." He looks as if his heart is breaking, which doesn't make sense, and makes my heart break a little, which also doesn't make sense. So I try to ignore it.

"And you need to leave, or else they'll kill you, and I . . . I don't want that to happen." I say the last words in a rush.

"So you care about me, but don't love me." Oh, fuck you, James.

"I've been here maybe fifteen minutes! Other than that, I thought you planned on eating me! I don't know you! I'm a fucking human, forgive me if my 'mating instincts' aren't quite up to par!" I scream at him, doing the finger quotes around 'mating instincts'.

He looks as if I killed his puppy, pissed on his favorite teddy bear, _and_ stole the last of his Starbursts.

"Then let us get to know each other! Come away with me. Give me. . . four months. Four months to make you fall in love with me. Then, it's up to you who you want to be with, what you want to do. . . I promise, please, just give me a chance. Give me a chance."

"But I can't just do that to Edward!" I can feel panic setting in. I can't stop hurting him. God, I'm always hurting everyone. I'm such a fuck-up. Everyone would be better off without me.

Suddenly, James turns towards the door of the studio and crouches protectively in front of me.

"Stay behind me, Bella." What the hell? There's no one else here.

A moment later, Edward walks in, followed by the rest of the Cullens. Edward immediately searches me out and meets my eyes. His stance relaxes only slightly.

"Get the fuck away from her, James."

"_Mine. MINE. Get away._" A feral snarl rips from James' throat. I back away, frightened. He walks backwards, so I'm pressed against the wall. He reaches for my hand and seems to almost curl around me; at first horrified, I relax into his strangely comforting touch.

Edward winces.

_Fuck up_. I'm hurting him. An unwelcome moan escapes me. I try to pull my hand away from James but he just tightens his grip.

Edward advances, itching to fight but not wanting me to get hurt in the moment.

"What? Jealous? You know I won't hurt her. You're more of a threat than I am."

"I-" Edward is shaking and venom drips out of his mouth.

"Edward, no! It'll only hurt Bella. Think of what her death would do to you – but stronger. They're mates, Edward. I'm sorry." Alice starts off screaming then slowly her voice becomes gentle and regretful.

Something flickers across his face, and he locks eyes with me.

"Bella." He says, pleading.

James moves in a blur, releasing my hand to suddenly wrap the afghan from the couch around me, bundling me like a child to take up in his arms, tucking my face into his chest and securing the blanket around my head. He crashes his side into and through one of the ceiling-to-floor windows behind us, before anyone can realize, a split second decision so Edward can't pick up on time.

I squeeze my eyes shut as the glass shatters around us and James runs through the city. I glance around to see that he is steering clear of any humans, mainly going through back alleys and suddenly over rooftops. I turn my head back into his chest before motion sickness sets in, but it barely feels as if we are moving if I don't look. I can vaguely hear Edward and Emmett behind us; I'm guessing the other Cullens are trying to intercept us from the front.

Frankly, I'm terrified – but, surprisingly enough, not _of_ James, but _for_ James.

I sob against his chest, feeling panic rising against. Without pause, James begins to purr; I guess it's a gesture of comfort.

I listen to the lovely sound, pressing my ear against his chest. Distracted by this and the feeling of sun on my face, I am content.

I wake up in a bed and very disoriented. I shift under a quilt to spot a familiar vampire sitting in an armchair in the corner of the room, surrounded by crates upon crates of books, stacked against the wall like bookshelves.

Memories rush back.

Good God. If that were Edward, I'd be in heaven.

A spike of guilt drives through me, and another at betraying Edward by feeling guilt over wishing he was with me.

God, this is confusing.

"James?" My voice is groggy.

"Good afternoon, sleepy head." He smiles at me. I feel my cheeks flush as I blush. He he Bella made a rhyme. I must be tired. . .

"Where are we? What happened?" I see him hesitate.

"We're underground. We lost them."

"But where are we?" He remains quiet too long.

"You don't trust me."

"Bella -"

"No. Don't 'Bella' me, and don't keep things from me, either. I've had enough of that shit from Edward, always 'for my own good', as if I were a child unable to make my own decisions. Well, you know what? I'm sick of it, and I sure as hell don't need it from you, too!" The more I talk, the more pissed off I get. "So if you want me to give you a chance, you _will_ answer my fucking questions, and you _will _have to learn to trust me, or there _won't ever_ be an 'us'. Do you understand?" By this point, I have climbed out of bed and stalked over to him, fists clenched at my sides. I try to hold his gaze as coldly as possible.

He blinks unnecessarily, having the decency to look ashamed.

"You're right. I'm sorry. We're in Denver, Colorado, in the basement apartment of a high rise residential complex my company owns. It's completely secure; thorough background checks are run, secretly of course, on each potential resident."

Whoa. He owns a company? I thought he was a nomad. Or was that all an act? But how could he have possibly fooled the Cullens?

As if reading my mind, he says, "I'm a semi-nomad, and I still need a steady income."

I gulp and nod. "Of course." He gets up and stands in front of me, a contemplative look on his face now. A few moments pass in silence before he speaks.

"So, how about some coffee?"


End file.
